Service providers use Metropolitan Area Networks (MANs) to provide customers with connectivity to the Internet and/or with connectivity to geographically diverse customer locations. Historically, MANs have been implemented using Synchronous Optical Networks (SONET), Frame Relay, or Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) technologies. Recently, however, service providers have begun to use Ethernet technology to implement MANs. These Ethernet-based MANs are referred to as Metro Ethernet Networks (MENs). Many technologies can be used to implement a MEN. However, all MENs use Ethernet to connect the subscriber's equipment, called a Customer Edge (CE) device, to the MEN.
In order for a customer to use the services of a MEN, it is necessary to configure the customer's equipment to match the features and attributes of each specific service provided by the MEN. This configuration of the customer's equipment needs to be performed when the customer's equipment is initially connected to the MEN and whenever the MEN is modified to provide new or different services. Configuring the customer's equipment involves programming the customer's equipment with the values of a wide variety of parameters. Since a MEN can support many EVCs (Ethernet Virtual Connections), and each EVC can in turn support several features, the number of parameters can be significant. Manually programming these values is both time-consuming and error-prone, which can lead to both customer and service provider frustration. Accordingly, improved techniques for configuring customer equipment for use with a MEN are desired.